The Bond We Share
by ShinMasaki
Summary: Ch.2 Up. Chidori is still fighting with her emotions, trying to keep her head level. Meanwhile, Urzu team nears the completion of their training. Elsewhere, a familiar face wakens.
1. Chapter 1

"Hurry, pull him out of the water!"

Thunder roared and lightning clashed, the violent winds churning the sea into a frothy wasteland. A submarine nearby dropped a life raft overboard. Inflating on impact with the waters surface, a crew of three men jumped aboard the inflatable and pushed out to the floating body.

"Hurry, we need to get him inside and into the medical bay" a crewmen called to the rafts men.

The body was scorched and scarred, unconscious he drafted back and forth with the ebb of the sea. In the distance, a ship sat, a plume of smoke emanating from it's ruptured hull.

One of the people in the raft jumped into the water and swam to the body.

"Oh god, we need to hurry up, he's not breathing!"

Swimming the body towards the raft the two men pulled the body out. A side hatch opened near the aft of the submarine allowing access to it's inner recesses.

"Heh, he must have been through hell to be in condition like this, check out this gash, it'll be a match for his left." The crewman said looking at the gaping wound along the man's face. Wiping the blood from his hands, the crewman pulled his associate from the water. "Hurry, let's get him to the medic."

The hatch silently closed behind the raft. The submersible descended into the depths of the sea as silently as it arrived, not a sound was heard, nor splash to be seen over the thundering and pounding of rain. Just as it ran under the surface of the crashing waves, the submarine disappeared once more under the cloak of its EMC.

**The Bond We Share**

"You know, Kyoko, it's not so much him that I miss. It's more of the random events and, well, it's so peaceful now that he is gone." Chidori grumbled. Looking over her lunch, she stirred through her rice with her chopsticks and sighed heavily. Dropping her head to her desk, she continued. "After all the events that occurred over the week before we came back to school, I would have at least expected to hear word from him. I mean, it's been two weeks...TWO WEEKS, and still nothing."

"Face it, Kana, you miss him. Just admit it, you liked Sousuke, you can say whatever you like, I know it's the truth." Kyoko replied. "After all, when I got my camera back from you after the trip, the rest of the memory was taken up mostly of Sousuke, or you, and then the last one is of you both. What's more, from the timestamp on them, they were all taken within a forty minute timeframe, the day before you got back. Yeah, I know you said that you spent a large part of your week trying to cope with the 'missions' that Sousuke and the others were doing."

"Yeah, and you know that one guy I was telling you about?"

"Yeah, yeah, that weird psycho guy, Gary or whatever."

"That's Gauron."

"Yeah, him. How he went and took over the submarine and tried to kill Sousuke, what...twice?"

"Twice, while I was with them, yes. From what I understood, however, they faced up against him several times before. But, that's all over, he's gone and there's nothing else to worry about. So, let's quit talking about it. You were telling me earlier about your break?"

"Yeah, but you did spend time with Sousuke before everything happened. How'd that go? How'd it go with him?"

"It went, nowhere. I'm telling you, nothing is going on, or was going on," Chidori sighed "between us."

"Well, whatever. You better not keep lying to yourself like that Kana, it's not healthy. You'll become some old maid who regretted the things she did before you know it."

"And just WHAT is that supposed to mean!" She slammed her chopsticks on the desk, half of one broke off and skittered to the floor.

"Oh, nothing." Kyoko pulled out her camera and shot a picture of Chidori.

"Ugh, sometimes I just can't deal with you. I'm getting a new pair of chopsticks." Standing up, Chidori stormed out of the room slamming the door behind her.

"An old, bittery maid, indeed. I just wish you'd be more honest with yourself, Kana" Kyoko muttered clicking through the past photos. She stopped at one photo and smiled. It was a photo of Sousuke and Chidori holding up a large Sea Bream. Chidori held the fish high with one arm, the other she had wrapped around Sousuke's back; she was beaming with delight, Sousuke had on an awkward smile. "Despite what she might say, they do make a good couple" she chuckled and pocketed the camera.

* * *

'_Honestly, an old maid? Be more honest? I am being honest with myself. Sousuke is just another person who went to this school and now he is gone. Happens all the time right? Miss Sousuke? How could I, all he ever did for me was cause trouble and nearly get me killed on several occasions, what kind of person would like him? What kind of person could like him?'_

A drop fell onto her hand.

'_What, where'd this come from?'_

Another drop dripped onto her hand.

'_I'm not crying, am I? Again? Oh god, please...let me forget him.'_

Clutching her chest, Chidori rushed into the girls' room and locked herself in a stall. She leaned against the door and felt a lump start growing in her throat.

'_Come on, Chidori, get over it. You've gone over this before, he's gone...he wont be coming back...he's on another mission...He was here only because he was obligated to...He meant nothing to me...I...meant nothing...to...'_

Chidori fell to her knees crying. She couldn't hold back the tears. "Why, why dammit? Why did you leave? You war-crazed freak, where are you?" She pounded the ground with her fist ignoring the pain each blow sent up her arm. "Why did you leave me? Why couldn't you just come back with me?" Not bothering trying to hold anything back anymore, Chidori collapsed and bawled into her arms.

The door creaked open and Kyoko stuck her head in. "Kana, are you in here?"

Through heavy sobs, Chidori managed to choke out, "Kyoko...why...why did he leave..."

Walking up to the sink across from the stall Chidori occupied, Kyoko leaned back and stood silently. _'What can I say to you Kana, what can I do to help ease your pain. Is there anything I can do? Is there?'_

"Why! Why did he leave?" Chidori cried.

"Kana, I..."

"Why!" The door flung open and Chidori rushed out and ran to Kyoko wrapping her arms around her. She fell to her knees unable to support herself.

"It's alright, Kana. You were very important to him." She held her friend and tried to comfort her. "He couldn't just leave without having you on his mind. What was it again that he said to you? That time on the sub?"

"He said...'I'm here because...because you were there...because I was there to look...to look after him. That it is because...that it is because I was there that he...was alive.'"

"That's right, he was glad that you were there by his side. Just look at these photos he took of you." She pulled out her camera and scrolled to a few frames of Chidori. "These photos are excellent photos, almost as if shot by an expert. He couldn't have taken photos like these if there wasn't any love."

"You...you think?" Chidori sniffled, trying to hold back another sob.

"Of course. You were very important to him, and you trust him, right?"

"Yes, yes I trust him." Chidori was breathing heavily, holding back the tears.

"Then believe in him, Kana, he'll return to you. I just know he will, and you know he will too. Just keep that in your heart and let that motivate you."

Wiping her eyes, Chidori held back a few sobs. "Yes, you're right, Kyoko. I should trust him. I need to...I need to believe in Sousuke, he will return, I just know he will."

"Good, now let's wash your face, class starts in a couple minutes and you still need to finish eating your lunch."

* * *

"C'mon, aren't we done yet!" Kurz whined. He was leaning against a brick wall gasping for air and sweating. "We just finished our last mission three days ago and we don't get any R&R time?"

"Nope, it's orders Kurz, so quit your complaining and get your ass back on the track. We still have two more days of training to go." Mao yelled. "You think it's easy for me? Or Sagara? Look, we're all just as tired as you and probably just as upset about this. Just two days after the whole Gauron incident we get called out to Lebanon to stifle an uprising that involved a chemical weapons plant, then we have to do these exercises." She huffed and looked up towards the drill commander. Shaking her head, she turned back to Kurz. "Once we're done in two days, we have to check in with the AS tech crews and work on synchro drills for another day or two. It wont be for another week before we have any time off."

"Man, that is too much work!"

"I agree, we really need to have a break." Sousuke huffed. The sweat dripped off his face as he shifted the weight of the filled pack and assault rifle strapped to his back. "There's something I've been meaning to do for the past week but been unable to."

"What?" Kurz grinned. "Call up your cute girlfriend Chidori and say 'hi'? Let her know you've missed her and that she's been the only thing you've been talking about for the past three days?"

"Chidori and I are in no such relationship," he blushed. "I only wish to know how she is doing after the trip home. I was told by Lt. Goldberry that I should check up on Chidori."

"Man," Kurz slumped down into the grass, "you don't need Goldberry to tell you that. Anybody should know that you're supposed to check up on your girl. Besides, Doc Goldberry saw Chidori like twice when she was with us."

"Hey, Urzu team, get yours butts moving!"

"Get up Kurz, you still have another ten laps to go before we are done for the day." She kicked Kurz and turned to Sousuke. "She's right, though. First chance you get, you should talk to Chidori and see how she is. She probably misses you." Mao turned and began her jog.

Looking down at Kurz, Sousuke shifted the weight of the pack once more and jumped on the dirt track. "Yes," he said to himself, "I need to talk to Chidori as soon as possible."

"Man...its going to be a long day." Kurz groaned.

"Hey, Urzu 7, get your lazy ass up or it's another five laps tagged onto your ten remaining."

Kurz grumbled and pushed himself to his feet, brushing off the grass and dirt that stuck to his knees. He looked up and stared at the clear sky, sighing to himself, he ran to catch up to his team.

* * *

"How's he doing?" a man asked. He stood in the shadows and stared through the window at the body in the room. He dressed as a military man, a dark brown suit with various pins and stripes on. The stars on his chest ranked him as general, he wore a dark pair of shades and spoke in a gruff manner.

"Huh? Oh excuse me, sir." A lab technician replied, just noticing the man behind him. "He's doing well, amazingly well. We're surprised he survived at all, I mean, look at the scars and stitches all over his body. If it were anybody else, they would most likely be dead."

"Heh, good. Inform me when he wakes. I have a special...job...that I want worked on. I want my best man for the job and he's it." Turning, he walked down the corridor, shoes clicking at each step on the linoleum flooring.

"Yes, I am very surprised that you lived. Looks like that thing we implanted in you had the desired effect." The technician said. He looked over a clipboard with various pages attached to it before putting it back in its place on the door.

_'You're job, will be a little more to your liking I'm sure. When you wake up, I'm going to send you against an old 'friend' of yours._' The general chuckled to himself. He walked out the sliding doors and sat in the passenger seat of the jeep waiting outside. The jeep took off, across the small compound. '_Yes, I have a very nice job for you, which I am sure you are going to enjoy. Welcome back...Gauron'_


	2. Chapter 2

"Ugh, it feels so good to get out of those cramped simulation rooms. I'm getting sick and tired of sitting in there." Kurz stretched, breathing deeply in the morning air. The light breeze gently rocked the upper branches of the trees in the compound. Kurz fell to his knees and shook his hair free of the sweat that matted it to his forehead. "I swear, those rooms are getting more and more stuffy every time we go in."

"Don't you ever stop complaining?" Mao answered. She was sitting against the support posts for the tent the Urzu team occupied. "You know why they do this, to make sure we can synchronize properly with the AS so that nothing unexpected should occur."

"Plus, they also use the data gathered when designing new AS models." Sousuke chimed. He had a hand towel thrown across his shoulders and his face glistened with sweat. He looked up at the cloudless sky and sighed. "Just one more day and we are done with the tests and drills."

"And then you can go send a 'hi' to your girl, Chidori." Kurz grinned. He closed his eyes and dropped his head down letting it rest on his arms. "Why is it that whenever we get stationed at one of these test sites, there are never any cute girls around? It's always these guy lab techs, and the same ones at that. Why doesn't fortune ever smile on me?"

"I would suppose," Mao yawned, "that the entire camp knows in advance of our arrival, of Urzu team. Knowing that, all the female techs take off, avoiding you."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Sousuke lay back in the grass and enjoyed the damp dew of the grass cooling off his back. He stared up at the sky, ignoring the conversation his teammates engaged in. _'It's a nice day today. It's been so long since I've been able to notice.'_

"What do you think it means?" Mao sneered back.

'_The last time was back at the school? No, later, at the beach, when we were fishing. And before that? Was there ever a day like this that I spent as a child? Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, all I did was fight. Fight, for the good of humanity, as I was told. It is a soldier's duty to do as he is told, for the sake of his superior, for the sake of himself. It is at those times, when a soldier fights that he is most alive, that is what is meant to be a soldier, isn't it? _

'_No, battle isn't the place to enjoy, it's days like this that we should fight for. Days like the ones I spent with Chidori, days where everything was alright. I'm getting tired of it. Tired of the fighting, I know. It's all I've known for all my life, but the time I spent in Japan were the ones where I felt most alive. Yes, I'm getting tired of it. No, not getting tired. I am tired of it.'_

Sousuke pushed himself up and brushed the grass off the back of his head.

"Well, whatever. I still say that no woman in their own self-respecting mind would ever want to go out with you. You are one of the most perverted, egoistic-"

"I'm tired."

"Huh? Tired, Sousuke? It's only nine-thirty in the morning." Kurz said looking up from Mao.

"Go on then, take a break Sousuke.," Mao said "I know they've been working you harder than the rest of us, what with the Lambda drive on the AS model you've been using. We'll call you when-"

"No, I'm tired of all this fighting. I feel like I'm missing something important in my life. Something that I am yearning for, but can't quite understand." Sousuke looked up at the sky. "The time that I spend fishing, the time that I spent out in Japan at the highschool, the times I spent with the ones who called me their friend. Sometimes I feel like I'm living the wrong life."

"Sousuke," Kurz sighed. "I understand what you mean. After all, you've been living the life of a mercenary since you were what, eight?"

"Yes, that is affirmative."

"And before that your life before was just riddled with war and battle, right?"

"Affirmative."

"It's no wonder you feel this way, after experiencing a couple days of the 'normal' life, everything feels out of whack. I feel the same way sometimes."

"You should speak with Tessa once the training is complete. I think you should try to get some R&R time." Mao said. She looked over Sousuke, his expression never faltering. "Who knows, maybe some time off will do you good. I know that when you had days out before, you would spend them at the shooting range or with your AS. You didn't really seem to know how to relax."

"Thank you, Melissa. I think I shall. For now though, it's almost ten hundred hours. We need to be headed back for the tests."

"Man, you are too tense. You need to learn how to relax and enjoy life." Kurz said clapping his hand onto Sousuke's shoulder as they walked down the dirt path towards the AS field. "Spend some time with Chidori for a while. Maybe then you'll loosen up. I know some great ways to get her to smile if you wanna know."

"Kurz, can the crap. You're nothing but a perverted lech and you know it. Anything you try to teach Sousuke will probably rot his brain." Mao called from behind the two.

**Fatigue**

"So, Kana. How do you think you did on that test?" Kyoko asked cheerfully.

"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm still trying to get the memory out of my head. What kind of teacher do we have that would spontaneously issue out a pop-quiz over Japanese classic lit?"

"Pop-quiz? Don't you remember him telling us there was going to be a quiz on the stuff a couple days ago? He even told us which pieces he might cover on the test?" Kyoko sighed. "Aren't you supposed to be a role model for the student body and such, being the Vice-President of the student council and all?"

The two were on their way home from school, the sun beat down overhead as if summer was still in full. The heat was bearable, but just. Fortunately, as a coastal city, theirs never quite got as hot as the inland cities did. Chidori pulled out a small water bottle and took a sip from it before slipping it back into her bag.

"Look, I'm sorry I ever volunteered for the stupid Student Council position. Have you ever met Hayashimizu, the President? He's a total nut job! And I don't remember anything about the stupid test being announced."

Chidori grumbled to herself and kicked at a lamppost; she nicked the side of the post and a hollow clang rang out. "If there was anyone else...ANYONE else...more qualified at the school to deal with the stuff that Hayashimizu throws out, I would gladly give the role up. You know, he reminds me a great deal like someone else I know..."

'_Sousuke'_

Chidori took a deep breath and straightened out her back, feeling some stress release in the popping of a joints. She stretched out looking up into the clear sky, a tear formed at the edge of her eye which she blinked away.

"Well, there's no school tomorrow, Kana," Kyoko chimed, oblivious to Chidori's thoughts, "do you have any plans for the day?"

"Actually, I would rather stay home. I just feel so tired, if I do decide to go out, how about I give you a call?"

"Sounds good." She turned and headed down the street to her house. She stopped suddenly and turned pulling out an envelope from her bag. "Kana, here, this is for you. Don't open it till you get home, 'k? I'll talk to you later!" She waved and turned once more and ran off down the road.

"Sure thing, Kyoko" Chidori whispered looking over the envelope before slipping it into her bag.

* * *

"I'm home," Chidori said as she opened the apartment door. It was more out of habit that she said such than anything as she lived alone. "Did you miss me, mom?" she asked picking up a picture of her mother that she had on a desk. 

She sat her bag in a chair and pulled out the envelope. _'What could she have given me that she wouldn't want me to open until I'm home?' _She carefully tore the edge of the envelope and a photograph fell out. It fell flat on the table face down, a timestamp on the lower left of the paper gave the date taken as three weeks before.

'_Is this...why? Why would you give me this, Kyoko?' _The tear that she blinked back before had returned with greater force. Unable to stop it, it dripped down her cheek and onto the table. Chidori picked up the photo and slowly flipped the image over.

It was a picture of her. A picture of her and Sousuke, sharing the glory of their fishing trip. _'Why, Kyoko? Are you trying to make me suffer even more?' _A lump formed in her throat and she tossed the photo across the room. It hit the wall and fell to the floor in a corner.

Without any control over her sobs, Chidori ran into her room and threw herself onto her bed burying her head within her pillows, crying where none but herself could hear her screams.

* * *

"Wake him up." A voice boomed into the room. A man walked in with a white lab coat draped over his shoulders. The thick metallic door behind him hissed as it shut and looked itself after his entrance. On the table in the middle of the room lay a man, a man with twin scars on his face. The right scar ran straight through his right eye, which was now clouded white and sightless. 

"Yes, sir," was the reply. The man in the lab coat walked to a monitor on the wall and pressed a few buttons. Several robotic arms snaking from the ceiling descended towards the one on the table. The one on the table was strapped down, there were several sensors attached to his body reading various bodily functions and displaying their performance on several monitors displayed around the room.

The arms reached down and removed the sensors from the body and lifted the table in an upright fashion. From within the various cords that descended within the room, a single arm dropped towards the man. Within the grasp of the arm, a syringe glistened with the reflective light of the room. Positioning itself to the side of his neck, the needle made an abrupt movement and instantly embedded itself within the man's neck. Slowly, the liquid inside was drained out within the body and the lights went out. The lab tech keyed in a pass code and slipped out of the heavy door as it hissed shut behind him locking the man behind.

"Who is this man and why is he so important to you, sir?" The tech asked the man in the hallway.

"This man is no man," was the reply. "This is a demon who has visited hell and returned to tell the tale. This demon will be the one to change the fate of the world."

Within the room, the sole eye of the man slowly began to open and a feral growl escaped his lips, "Kashim".


End file.
